Tuft-pile-fabric loom



H. HUGHES.

TUFT PILE FABRIC LOOM.

APPLICATION FILED JuLY23, I920.

Patented Dec. 28, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

H. HUGHES.

TUFI PILE FABRIC LOOM. APPLICATION FILED JULYZS, 1920.

1,363,7900 Patented Dec. 28, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEIET z.

m gun" UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CARPET COMPANY, OF' BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS. f

IASSACHUSETTS,

A CORPORATION OF TUFT-PILE-FABRIC LOOK.

To all whom it may comer a:

Be'it known that I, HARRY HUGHES, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Saxonville, county of Middlesex, and State .of Massachusetts, have invented an Improve ment in Tuft-Pile-F'abric Looms, of which the following descri tion, in connection with the accompanying rawings, is a specification, like characters on the drawings representing like parts.

This invention relates to looms' and more particularly to looms for weaving tufted pile fabrics such, for instance, as 'moquette carpets or rugs or other types of fabrics in which the 'pile forming yarns are passed about weft threads in the body of the fabric with their ends projecting to form the tread surface, and the present invention relates more especially to means for cutting the pile forming yarn after the same has been placed in the fabric. v

In this general type of loom, the tuft yarns are usually carried on spools which are mounted upon suitable chains or carriers,

and yarns are taken from these spools bv presenting devices and passed about. Weft threadswhich form part of the body of the fabric, and then the tuft yarns are.cut or trimmed by suitable knives operating at a distance above the body of the fabric.

The tuft yarns to be placed in the fabric are usually carried by spools in such a manner that each spool has a number of yarn ends extending therefrom in a row, and these yarns are introduced into the fabric during the weaving operation to form the tuft or pile of the fabric. After each row of yarns is placed in .the fabric and secured about the weft threads, it is necessary to cut the tufts between the fabric and spool.

The primary object of the .present. .inven- -tion, therefore, is to improve the construction and operation of the cutting mechanism which cuts or trims the tuft yarns andsevers them from the source of supply. In addition to the above, other objects and features of the invention will be described in connection with the accompanyin' drawings, which illustrate a ood, practica form of the invention, the details of which may be modified within the true scope thereof, as. defined by i the claims.

'Inthedrawings: v Figure 1 is .a sectional side elevation of a tuft pile fabric loom, some of the parts be-- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 28, 1920.

Application filed July 23, 1920. Serial No. 398,490.

ing omitted, and having the present inven- I tion associatedtherewith Flg. 2 is an enlarged perspective view of a portion of the loom showing the mechanism "for successivelymovin the spools into. osition to present their tu t yarns to the fa ric;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of part of the'knife operatin mechanism;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged p an view showing the cutting ments; and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of part of the' spool delivery mechanism.

The loom frame may be of suitable construction for supporting the operating parts, and comprises the side frames 1 tied to gether with suitable cross ties 2. Supported upon suitable brackets 3, 4, at the rear of knives and their relative move-- the loom are bearings for supporting the stufi'er and binder warp beams, the former being indicated at 5 and the latter at 6. A1 0 mounted upon the bracket 7 extending from the loom frame is the beam 8 for the selvage thread. The'binder'warp threads a from-' the beam 6, pass frontwardly about the tension rolls 9 over and under the lease rods 10 and through the harnesses 11 and 12 which may be actuated by suitable operating mechanism, as usual in this class of looms. The

means for actuating the binder warp'harnesses 11 and .12 form no part of the present invention and the construction and mode of operation, therefore, of such means, is not herein illustrated. v 1

The stuffer warp threads I) pass about suitable guiding and tension rods 13, Fig. 1, and then through a stationary or fixed harness 14, the construction being. such that in the formation of the sheds the binder warps are raised and lowered relatively to the fixed stuffer warps.

. The selvage thread 0 passes from the beam 8 directl through the selvage thread heddle 15 whic is raised and lowered throu h mechanism that will hereinafter be escribed.

The various warp threads so far descr'ib ed pass forward through the usual reed 16 and are united at the fell of the cloth 17, Fig. 2, the construction being such that upon proper manipulation of either an up er and lower or double shed, or a single she will be formed.

The reed .16 may be appropriately operated, as is' common in this class of looms m the shedding mechanism order to beat up the weft threads to the fell of cloth, but since such operating mechanism forms no part of the present invention, its illustration is not deemed necessary.

To one side of the loom are mounted a pair of weft carrying needles 18 and "19 the forward ends of which are slidably mounted in a block 20. The needles '18 and 19 are slid into and out of the shed by mechanism not shown, to carry the weft threads-into the sheds.

As above stated, in the type of loom to which this invention relates, the tuft yarns are usually carried on spools, and the spools are moved into position to introduce the ends of the yarn carried thereby into the fabric. One type of mechanism well known by those skilled in the art, has been illustrated for carrying out this operation, and will now be described. Above the'loom frame is mounted a shaft 21 supported by brackets 22 carried by the loom frame. The shaft 21 is provided with spaced sprocket wheels 23 only one of which is shown in the drawings. The spools 24 which carry the tuft yarns are sufliciently long to extend acrossthe strip of fabric being woven and are carried between spaced sprocket chains 25 which pass about the sprocket wheels 23. Each spool 24 carries a large number of yarn threads or strands and the end of each yarn thread is led through a presenting device 26 and extends a short distance beyond the same as indicated at 27. Each spool 24 and the accompanying row of presenting devices 26 is carried by a frame 28 which in turn is removably secured to a link of each of the sprocket chains 25. The yarn threads may be differently colored and arranged on the spools.

s each spool in passing about the sprocket wheel 23 reaches a predetermined position, its frame 28 with the spool therein is disengaged from the sprocket chain and moved toward the fabric, as shown in Fig. 2. For this purpose, any of the wellknown mechanisms may be employed, but in the present instance upon each side of the loom is mounted a swinging arm 29, to theouter end of which is secured a trough shaped carrier 30.

When the frame 28 is moved to a predetermined position about the sprockets, the

carriers 30 are moved upward by the arms 29 so that the trough of each carrier is slid over an end-of a frame 28, and the frame is secured in the carriers by the pin 31. Then as the arms 29 are moved downward toward the fabric, the frames 28, which are removably secured by-spring clips or the like to the sprocket chain, are pulled away from the sprocket chain and are moved tointroduce the yarn ends 27 between the warp threads. As soon as the yarn ends 27 place within the fabric, the cutting knives, to be described, are operated to cut the tufts of yarn from their into position source of supply, after which the arms 29 and cooperating parts move the frame 28 back to theposition in which it is supported by the sprocket chains.

The mechanism so far described does not form part of the present invention, and has been described only to the extent that is thought necessary to make clear the construction and operation of the cutting mechanism used in connection therewith. The improved cutting mechanism will now be described.

This means consists of two knives, one of which, the rear knife in this instance, is moved in a straight path, from end to end, and the other of which is moved with a differential or shogging motion relative to its companion knife in order to cut the tuft yarns progressively with a slicing or shear= ing cut.

' In the present instance of the invention, the loom frame has mounted thereon the rock shaft 32, Fig. 1, from which rises the two side arms 33 carrying at their upper end the straight edge knife 34 which may be appro priately secured in adjusted position on the arm 33 by suitable bolts 35. Extending downwardly from the shaft 32 is the arm 36 connected by a link 37 with the upper end of an operating member 38 pivoted to the loom frame at 39, and having a roller 40 which. bears upon the periphery of a cam 41 secured to the shaft 42, the construction being such that the cam 41, of which there may be two, one at each side of the loom on the shaft 42, actuate the side arms 33 to move the knife 34 downwardly to its predetermined cuttin. position, and in order that this cutting position may be accurately determined, the side arm 33 has connected thereto the link 43, which is provided with an adjusting screw 44 which, when the knife 34 is in its cutting position, contacts with a stop 45 secured to a fixed portion of the loom.

The other cutting member is arranged frontwardly of the straight edged knife, just described, andi'ts two end portions are actuated by side arms which have differential or movements non-currently. In the present instance the side arms 46, only one of which is shown in 1, are mounted to rock upon a shaft 47 and each has a downwardly extending arm 48. Secured to the cam shaft 49, are the two side cams 50 and 51. The side arms 48 each carry rolls 52, the rollers of one of said arms being actu-, ated by the cam 50 and the roller of the other of said arms being actuated by the cam 51. Since the cams '50 and 51 are'oifset on the shaft 49, as indicated in Fig. 1, it follows that one end of the front knife will move in advance of the other end, and then the other end will catch up with the first end during the cutting: operation of the knife. The upper end of each arm 46 is forked as brackets 58 which may be adjustably mounted upon the opposite sides of the loom. The knife 57 is best shown in its three positions in Fig. 4:. The full line position of the knife 57 -1ndicates that the edge of the knife near one end thereof is straight, but toward the other end thereof, at 59, the

knife curves frontwardly. The dotted lineposition of the knife 57 indicates that the advancing edge at the right has commenced the cut of a row of tufts andis nearing a point where that end of the knife comes to rest. The other end of the knife at the left, Fig. 4, continues to move frontwardly from the dotted to the dot-and-dash line position wherein it will be apparent that the knife is moved with a shearin cut from one end of its companion or straight edge knife to the other. The pivotal connections 56 between the knife 57 and the brackets 55 permit one end of the knife to be freely advanced ahead of its other end, and to further provide for the differential or shogging movement of the knife 57, suflicient'clearance, as at 60, is provided between the ends of the knife 57 and the inner wall within the slotted bracket 58 to allow free movement of the knife.

In the loom construction illustrated, the weft thread is carried into the shed by rela-. tively long needles 18 and 19 and since the needles are inserted in and drawn out of the same shed, it is necessary to provide mechanism at each side of the loom to engage the weft or needle thread and form a selvage. This selvage may be formed at the left hand side of the cloth by selvage-shuttle mechanism, and the selvage is formed at the righthand side of the'cloth by the selvage heddle l5 hereinbefore referred to. The selvage heddle 15 has the single eye for the passage of the selvage thread 0 and extends upwardly into engagement at 61, Fig. 1, with a rocking lever 62 pivoted to the loom frame at 63 and actuated bythe rod 64, the lower end portion of which is connected at 65 to one arm of a bell crank lever pivoted to the loom at 66. The other arm 67 of the bell crank is operatively engaged with the link 43, heretofore described as connected to the knife supporting side arm 33. The construction is such that the selvage heddle will be raised and lowered in timed relation with the needle operation to interlock with the weft threads at the needle side of the cloth and form the selvage, while the selvage at the opposite side of the cloth will be formed The operating parts of the 100m are so timed that after each insertion of a row oftuft yarns within the cloth, the knives operate to progressively cut or shear these tufts from the yarns carried bytthe spool, and as the cloth is woven it passes to the take-up rolls 68 is a well-known manner.

Claims:

1. In a tuft pile fabric loom, the combination of shedding mechanism, needles for insertingweft, threads for holding the tuft yarns, two knives for cutting the tuft yarns,

one of said knives being movable throughout its length simultaneously to the cutting position, and the other of saidknives having its ends advanced one ahead of the other to cut the tuft yarns progressively from one end of a row to the other, and means for operating the knives.

2. In a tuft pile fabric loom, the combination of shedding mechanism, needles for insorting weft threads for holding the tuft yarns, two knives for cutting the tuft yarns, one of said knives being movable throughout its length simultaneously to the cutting position, and the other of said knives being provided with an edge curved frontwardly at one end and having its ends advanced differentially toward the other knife to cut the tuft yarns progressively from one end of a row to the other, and means for operating the knives.v

3. In a tuft pile fabric loom, the combination of shedding mechanism, two needles for inserting weft threads simultaneously, two knives for cutting the tuft yarns, means for moving one of said knives uniformly from end to end to the'cutting position, a stop for determining the cutting position of the knife, and means fpr operating the other knife differentially by moving one end in advance of the other to progressively cut the tufts from one end of a row to the other.

, 4. In a tuft pile fabric loom, the combination of-shedding mechanism, two knives for cutting the tuft yarns, means for operating the knives, a selvage heddle carrying a selvage thread, and means connected to one of the knives for operating the selvage heddle.

5. In a tuft pile fabric loom, the combination of shedding mechanism, means movable toward and from the plane of warp threads for inserting a row of tuft yarns into the shed, means for inserting weft threads to hold the tuft yarns, two knives for cutting the tuft yarns, one of said knives being movand means for operating the knives.

6. In a tuft pile fabric loom, the combination of shedding mechanism, spools carrying by the selvage shuttles, as above mentioned. tuft yarns, presenting devices for inserting to the other, and means for operating the knives.

7. In a tuft pile fabric loom, the combina- 'tion of shedding mechanism, means for placing a row of tuft yarns in the shed, needles for inserting Weft threads for holding the tuft yarns, two knives for cutting the tuft yarns, means for advancing first one end and then the other end of one of said knives toward the other knife to progressively cut the tuft yarns from one end of a row to the other.

8. In a tuft pile fabric loom, the combination of shedding mechanism, means for placing a row of tuft yarns in the shed, needles for inserting weft threads for holding the tuft yarns,.two knives for cutting the tuft yarns, guides for the opposite ends of one knife arranged to guide the same toward and from the other knife, differently timed cams for operating the guided knife, and means for imparting the movement of said cams to the respective ends of said knife to advance the ends of the knife difierentially and progressively cut the tuft yarns from one end of a row to the other.

9. In a tuft pile fabric loom, the combination of cutting mechanism, knives for cutting the tuft yarns, means for operating the knives to cut a row of tuft yarns progressively from one side of the fabric to the other, a selvage-heddle carrying a selvage thread, and connections between the selvage heddle and one of the knives for operating the selvage heddle.

In testimony whereof,I have signed my name to this specification.

HARRY HUGHES. 

